All primary school students in London will receive free school meals

He mayor of London, Sadiq Khantoday announced a historic emergency plan for 130 million of sterling to help families with the skyrocketing cost of living, ensuring that all primary school students in London receive free school meals in the next academic year.

The mayor steps in with the unique proposal to ensure free and healthy school meals are universally available to all primary school students for one year starting in September due to the extreme pressures currently facing households across the capital.

£130 million plan

The unprecedented move will help around 270,000 primary school children and save families around £440 per child over the whole year.

Sadiq, who received free school meals as a child, has repeatedly called on the government to make the meals available to all, as research has shown that hundreds of thousands of schoolchildren live in poverty but do not receive them due to the criteria government’s restrictive eligibility criteria and lack of universal provision.

Currently, a household on Universal Credit must earn less than £7,400 a year (after tax and excluding benefits), regardless of the number of children in the family, to be eligible. This means that many children from poor working families are not entitled to free school meals.

With government inaction and the rising cost of living hitting London families particularly hard, the Mayor has now proposed a plan to make meals universally available to all primary school children in the capital for a full school year.

As well as saving families hundreds of pounds per child, making free school meals available to all helps reduce the stigma that can be associated with being labeled as low-income, increasing uptake among families who need it most. .

Meals are also good for children’s health, as they can be the main source of hot, nutritious food. By ensuring they don’t go hungry, children are better equipped to learn.

Sadiq made the emergency funding announcement today when he visited his former school Fircroft Primary, in Tooting. This is a one-time financing of additional income from business fees. Sadiq is clear that he can only provide the help that should come from the Government for a year.

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